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Offer ends soon
Published: 7/5/2007 12:53 PM
Last Modified: 7/5/2007 12:53 PM

When summer blockbusters are increasingly set up to become one-weekend events of hype and hysteria, is it any surprise that their shelf-life expires faster than ever?

If you want to swing into “Spider-Man 3,” hurry up and pack some extra cash. If “Shrek the Third” is one you don’t want to miss, don’t blink.

Both of these movies have been out for more than 40 days. What are you waiting for?

Beginning Friday, “Spider-Man 3” is showing only at the IMAX theater in Tulsa through Tuesday before being shipped off to the dollar house. Pretty rough treatment for the year’s No. 1 film.

But then the latest “Shrek” installment has only been out for seven weeks, and on Friday it will be in one theater also. Jack Sparrow and his fellow “Pirates” were in 4,000 theaters on Memorial Day; now it’s at four in Tulsa.

The second film in that series, “Dead Man’s Chest,” finally petered out at the dollar theater here last December. Think this new edition will be here come Christmas?

This summer’s been brutal in the manner of eviction notices.

With each week comes the next pre-ordained hit, and theater owners have to purge flicks fast, the assembly line requiring four screens for “Transformers” and four screens for “Harry Potter” and with the knowledge that “The Simpson’s Movie” is coming soon, then “The Bourne Ultimatum,” then “Rush Hour 3.”

Sure, the culture has changed with regard to viewing immediacy, but this summer is out of the ordinary, a sequel-infested popcorn event that Hollywood studios have been looking forward to, the one they predict will be the biggest ever.

Teen ticket-buyers line up opening day, too embarrassed at the thought of seeing “Fantastic Four” a day later than their pals down the street and missing out on something.

Is opening-day viewing a new element of peer pressure? That’s too sad to consider as a reality.

How quaint the old Tulsa World ads would seem to these young ones, something like a 1975 edition for “Jaws” reading: Held over! Now in its 43rd record-breaking week!

The first question from today’s youth at seeing that exclamation: Why were people still going to the movies to see “Jaws” after 43 weeks when movies come out on DVD a few months after they’re released?

That’s right, first came fire, then the wheel, then the universal remote control.

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I See Movies for Free

“I was born a poor, black child” … not me, actually, but Steve Martin’s character in the “The Jerk.” That absurd opening line is just one of the absurd number of film facts, quotes and minutiae contained in movie critic Michael Smith’s brain, at his disposal to toss out on a moment’s notice. It’s a key requirement as Tulsa World film critic to know these things. Michael learned a few other life facts along the way (seven years as a Crystal’s Pizza & Spaghetti manager) before attempting journalism and joining the Tulsa World in 1996, where he’s covered everything from a school shooting in Fort Gibson to a tornado in Stroud to witnessing an execution. A little community theater coverage was sprinkled in there, too. Movies engender many of his happiest memories, from standing in line for “Star Wars” and “Grease” at the Southroads Cinema to the James Bond and Pink Panther movies that always premiered at the enormous Continental Theater.

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Archive

Past Articles By Michael Smith

2/16/2013		Broken Arrow movie theater moves to discount showings
2/15/2013		Review: 'Amour'
2/15/2013		Review: 'A Good Day to Die Hard'
2/15/2013		Review: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/14/2013		Review: 'Quartet'
2/14/2013		Shirley MacLaine to speak at Osage Casino
2/14/2013		Weekly rewind: February 14
2/14/2013		REVIEW: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/12/2013		Belgian best picture hopeful 'Amour' opens in Tulsa on Friday
2/10/2013		'Die Hard' marathon at AMC Southroads on Wednesday ends with new film
2/9/2013		Review: 'Identity Thief' a stupid movie from stupid idea
2/8/2013		Oscar audit: Critics choices for best picture hold up over time

Michael Smith's Blog Archive:

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